Coles gift card offers

[markis10]

It's just 5 gift cards, why make it a power trip.

Their not on a power trip, they are confused but thats the result of moving goal posts head office impose on a daily basis. The Cole’s online learning centre is a joke, managers leave it to the online learning to train staff, it should be reinforcing what managers do, not replacing them Gift cards are easy, don’t get me started on tobacco, and the various stat differences. When your getting $25 an hour, your tolerance levels may drop, and the training is done in their own time most of the time.

 

[Chicken]

Their not on a power trip, they are confused but the moving goal posts head office impose on a daily basis. The Cole’s online learning centre is a joke, managers leave it to the online learning to train staff, it should be reinforcing what managers do, not replacing them Gift cards are easy, don’t get me started on tobacco, and the various stat differences. When your getting $25 an hour, your tolerance levels may drop

I don't buy that excuse. I was on minimum wage too, but I would also check the notes / comms book under the counter when I wasn't sure about something. Back to gift cards, all the T&Cs are in the catalogue. There is no point to argue, just like if the cash register scans something at a price which was not expected, I would walk to the shelf with the customer, and read the T&Cs of the promo on the wobbler, together with the customer, so there would be no dispute. Why make up a wrong answer? Why argue with the customer?

 

[markis10]

I don't buy that excuse. I was on minimum wage too, but I would also check the notes / comms book under the counter when I wasn't sure about something. Back to gift cards, all the T&Cs are in the catalogue. There is no point to argue, just like if the cash register scans something at a price which was not expected, I would walk to the shelf with the customer, and read the T&Cs of the promo on the wobbler, together with the customer. Why make up a wrong answer? Why argue with the customer?

Have you worked there recently, I have, and in the 80s as well, big difference, and that difference is management led. Comms books don’t even exist in most of the stores as far as actual content, you need to log in and read news of the day, and most of the time your don’t have the time to do so during shift handover. Gift card policies have changed on a monthly basis for the last 20 months, no wonder staff don’t have a clue, there are limits that are not published for a reason, yes the staff member got it wrong, but even published limits change week to week in the catalog.

 

[Chicken]

Have you worked there recently

I did not work in supermarkets, I worked in the convenience sector.

Comms books don’t even exist in most of the stores as far as actual content

Okay ......

you need to log in and read news of the day

Right, so what's the difference between you logging in and reading the update for today, verses me reading all the notes in the comms book left by however many people since I last did my shift, before I start my shift? Same thing. It's an exercise of being aware of what you need to know. (This is especially important in the convenience sector, as you would want to read any update related to store security)

and most of the time your don’t have the time to do so during shift handover.

What do you mean by you "don't have the time"? If I was rostered to start at 18:00, I don't turn up at 17:58, I turn up at 17:45 or no later than 17:50, to read what you call the newsletter, and count the float in my till, so I start exactly at 18:00.

Gift card policies have changed on a monthly basis for the last 20 months, no wonder staff don’t have a clue, there are limits that are not published for a reason, yes the staff member got it wrong, but even published limits change week to week in the catalog.

So get a piece of paper and write down anything which is not in the catalogue, and steal a catalogue then stuff it under the till as cheat sheet. Also, tell the store manager to print a copy of the daily newsletter out in the morning, and leave it at the service desk, so any staff could refer to it whenever they need to.

I would not say I was a good check out staff, I was barely getting the job done, but there is no way I would turn up to a check out job and do what you described.

 

[markis10]

I did not work in supermarkets, I worked in the convenience sector.

So your having a go at a Coles staffer when you haven’t worked in a supermarket?? How often did Express have gift card promos, once twice a year, not weekly, each with different conditions. Coles staff deal with 500x the promos express deal with and a weekly change over versus monthly Express were on, no wonder they are confused.

I have empathy for those workers, and BTW I also worked in Express until recently. I am not having a go at you but just suggesting the employer is the issue here, not the staff member, and a distinct lack of leadership.

 

[Chicken]

Coles staff deal with 500x the promos

99% of these do not require manual involvement at store level, these are managed by the trade pricing team in the head office, setting up bombs and similar (you would know what's a bomb against a SKU if you have any knowledge on discount and promo).

So these have nothing to do with something like 'how many gift cards you can sell'

Also, cash registers now run Windows (whereas cash registers I used ran on 256k RAM + something stupid like 16k ROM), so things like purchase limit can also be set by the pricing team in SAP. This is why cash registers in Coles won't let you scan more than 5 gift cards.

So, again, there maybe stuffs which need to be managed on store level, but these are really minimal.

not the staff member, and a distinct lack of leadership.

It is not the responsibility of the leadership to make a check out staff read the newsletter, or the promo cheat sheet. It is up to the staff to do it, and do what's right by the customer and by the company.

If someone tells me that they "don't have enough time" to read the comms before starting their shift and be aware of anything they should be aware of, then their heart and mind is not at the job. To argue with a customer without checking their notes or notices while challenged, is just bad practise in the customer or hospitality sector.

Imagine if a customer were to ask, whether the Teens gift card could be used at Boost Juice, and you say yes, because it used to, but it actually no longer works at Boost, and the customer buys the Teens gift card based on your Yes answer. You would have caused your employer to breach ACL, but more importantly, you would have caused the customer to lose money by buying a gift card which they can't use, and made their day, from a happy day looking forward to a sugary Boost Juice, to a shatty day with no Boost Juice and losing however much money they wasted on the gift card.

I would never do something which Happy Dude experienced. That's just a poor form in so many ways.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

99% of these do not require manual involvement at store level, these are managed by the trade pricing team in the head office, setting up bombs and similar (you would know what's a bomb against a SKU if you have any knowledge on discount and promo).

So these have nothing to do with something like 'how many gift cards you can sell'

Also, cash registers now run Windows (whereas cash registers I used ran on 256k RAM + something stupid like 16k ROM), so things like purchase limit can also be set by the pricing team in SAP. This is why cash registers in Coles won't let you scan more than 5 gift cards.

So, again, there maybe stuffs which need to be managed on store level, but these are really minimal.



It is not the responsibility of the leadership to make a check out staff read the newsletter, or the promo cheat sheet. It is up to the staff to do it, and do what's right by the customer and by the company.

If someone tells me that they "don't have enough time" to read the comms before starting their shift and be aware of anything they should be aware of, then their heart and mind is not at the job. To argue with a customer without checking their notes or notices while challenged, is just bad practise in the customer or hospitality sector.

Imagine if a customer were to ask, whether the Teens gift card could be used at Boost Juice, and you say yes, because it used to, but it actually no longer works at Boost, and the customer buys the Teens gift card based on your Yes answer. You would have caused your employer to breach ACL, but more importantly, you would have caused the customer to lose money by buying a gift card which they can't use, and made their day, from a happy day looking forward to a sugary Boost Juice, to a shatty day with no Boost Juice and losing however much money they wasted on the gift card.

I would never do something which Happy Dude experienced. That's just a poor form in so many ways.

Totally agree. Staff need to take accountability for their work. Bring expected to be spoon fed the rules is ridiculous. Turn up a bit earlier and read what is required.

 

[Pele]

Totally agree. Staff need to take accountability for their work. Bring expected to be spoon fed the rules is ridiculous. Turn up a bit earlier and read what is required.

You can't punch in too early though otherwise the store will blow their weekly wage budget. The Retail Award is very black and white.